STS-85

STS-85

STS-85 launches from the Kennedy Space Center, 7 August 1997
Mission type	Research
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1997-039A
SATCAT №	24889
Mission duration	11 days, 20 hours, 28 minutes, 7 seconds
Distance travelled	7,600,000 kilometres (4,700,000 mi)
Orbits completed	185
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Discovery
Payload mass	9,191 kilograms (20,263 lb)
Crew
Crew size	6
Members	Curtis L. Brown, Jr. Kent V. Rominger Nancy J. Davis Robert L. Curbeam, Jr. Stephen K. Robinson Bjarni V. Tryggvason
Start of mission
Launch date	7 August 1997, 14:41 (1997-08-07UTC14:41Z) UTC
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Landing date	19 August 1997, 11:08 (1997-08-19UTC11:09Z) UTC
Landing site	Kennedy SLF Runway 33
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	249 kilometres (155 mi)
Apogee	261 kilometres (162 mi)
Inclination	57.0 degrees
Period	89.6 minutes
Left to right - Seated: Rominger, Brown; Standing: Curbeam, Robinson, Davis, Tryggvason Space Shuttle program ← STS-94 STS-86 →

Left to right - Seated: Rominger, Brown; Standing: Curbeam, Robinson, Davis, Tryggvason

STS-85 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission to perform multiple space science packages. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 7 August 1997.

The deployment and retrieval of a satellite designed to study Earth's middle atmosphere along with a test of potential International Space Station hardware highlighted NASA's sixth Shuttle mission of 1997. The prime payload for the flight, the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2) made its second flight on the Space Shuttle (previous flight STS-66 in 1994) and was the fourth mission in a cooperative venture between the German Space Agency (DARA) and NASA.

During the flight, Davis used Discovery's robot arm to deploy the CRISTA-SPAS payload for about 9 days of free-flight. CRISTA-SPAS consists of three telescopes and four spectrometers that measured trace gases and dynamics of the Earth's middle atmosphere. Davis also operated the robot arm for CRISTA-SPAS retrieval. The Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) on which the scientific instruments were mounted is a self-contained platform that provides power, command, control and communication with Discovery during free-flight.

Two other instruments mounted on the SPAS also studied the Earth's atmosphere. The Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Instrument (MAHRSI) measured hydroxyl and nitric oxide by sensing UV radiation emitted and scattered by the atmosphere, while the Surface Effects Sample Monitor (SESAM) was a passive carrier for state-of-the-art optical surfaces to study the impact of the atomic oxygen and the space environment on materials and services.